Risk perception regarding energy production: Factor structure in a French sample

[Excerpt] Considering that energy production is a key factor in the development of nations, it is important to have detailed information on the risks attributed by lay people to the different types of energy as well as the different stages of energy production. This study reports on the structure of risk perception with regard to energy production found among French participants. There have already been many investigations of risk perception related to energy production. . . . The present study is a direct extension of the Mullet study. A similar, although more complete, set of items was used. These items related to specific energy domains as well as specific aspects of the energy production process. As in the Mullet study, nine energy sources (covering all currently known energy sources), were considered in this study: Wood and bio-mass, coal, gas, oil, nuclear, water, wind, geothermal, and solar. Also, nine stages in the energy production and utilization process were considered: obtaining raw materials, storage of raw materials, transportation of raw materials, energy production, waste products related to energy production, transportation of energy, transportation of waste products, the storage of waste products, and utilization of energy. Crossover of production phases and energy types resulted in a large number of items.

Un cas de pythiose cutanée chez un chien vivant en Afrique

National audienc

Un cas de pythiose cutanée chez un chien vivant en Afrique

National audienc

Bwenaado: An Ethnolexicological Study of a Culturally Salient Word in Cemuhi (New Caledonia)

Ever since people have come together in communities, they have felt the need to regulate and control their relationships with members of other groups. One way of building and maintaining a stable society is by sharing wealth. New Caledonia has developed its own unique system of exchange, referred to as la coutume by its French-speaking inhabitants and by the Melanesian part of the population, which also uses indigenous terms that have relatively high cultural visibility and can thus be considered culturally salient. This paper focuses on one such word, bwénaado, and aims to demonstrate that it reflects an important cultural value in Cèmuhî, an Austronesian language spoken by approximately 3300 people dispersed along the north-east coast and in the valleys of New Caledonia’s rugged interior. To the best of our knowledge, no detailed treatment of bwénaado exists. Our semantic analysis therefore breaks new ground. Three different meanings of the word (roughly, ‘large-scale customary celebration’, ‘customary ceremony’ and ‘customary gift’) are distinguished. It will be argued that, even though the Kanak social exchange system (in which all three meanings are highly relevant) seems to be linked to a universal principle of reciprocity, it is highly culture-specific. To ensure utmost respect for this cultural specificity and to break out of the prison walls of the English language, Natural Semantic Metalanguage will be used to frame the description, and applied ethnolinguistics will form the backdrop against which the description is carried out